Friend Bingo

Friend Bingo transforms student connections into a fun social challenge - complete micro-tasks, earn rewards, and build real friendships on campus!

Comment

Inspiration

As university students, we realized how hard it is to make new friends — especially for introverts, international students, or those who missed orientation week. We wanted to create a fun, pressure-free way to encourage meaningful social interactions on campus.

What it does

Friend Bingo is a mobile web app that turns social interaction into a game. Each week, users get a 3x3 bingo card with unique micro-challenges like “Compliment a stranger” or “Join a club event.” As they complete tasks, they tap squares to mark progress. Completing a row triggers a confetti celebration and lets them submit their score to a global leaderboard. Users can log in with their name and email, view their profile and score, and compete with friends.

How we built it

We used React Native with Expo Router to build a cross-platform experience. Firebase handled authentication (email/password login), Firestore stored leaderboard scores, and AsyncStorage saved weekly progress. We designed a smooth UX with animated feedback, local data sync, and minimal setup.

Challenges we ran into

  1. Getting Google login to work reliably across devices was a major blocker (we pivoted to email login).
  2. Syncing scores in real time and keeping leaderboard data accurate was tricky.
  3. Managing state across screens and Firebase user persistence took some debugging.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. Implemented full end-to-end login, score tracking, and leaderboard in under 48 hours.
  2. Created a polished, animated experience that works great on mobile.
  3. Designed a project that’s truly fun and engages students socially.

What we learned

  1. How to combine Firebase Auth + Firestore with React Native.
  2. Real-time updates, persistence with AsyncStorage, and smooth user onboarding.
  3. The power of gamification for driving positive social behavior.

What's next for Friend Bingo

  1. Deploying a public web version using EAS and hosting it for clubs and societies.
  2. Adding custom bingo cards for student events and clubs.
  3. Enabling social sign-in, real-time multiplayer, and friend invites.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates